Police seek driver who critically injured woman

Hey there, time traveller!This article was published 9/9/2013 (1186 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The family of a Winnipeg woman is pleading for information about the suspected drunk driver who nearly mowed her down outside a rowdy house party earlier this month.

Sandra Sveinson, 20, sustained serious injuries after trying to stop the man from driving away. She reached into his truck in an attempt to pull the keys from the ignition, but ended up being dragged several metres.

Sveinson, the daughter of a city police officer, is now recovering at home after suffering numerous facial fractures and several broken ribs.

"I was scared he was going to run somebody else over. He would have hit people or cars the ways he was driving," Sveinson told the Free Press Monday in an interview. She had to write out her answers to questions because her jaw is wired shut.

Trouble began early in the morning on Sept. 1 when several unknown people crashed a party being hosted by Sveinson’s aunt in East St. Paul. The Labour Day long weekend gathering is an annual tradition in the area, with friends and neighbours gathering for drinks and a bonfire.

Sveinson began helping her relatives escort some of the unwanted guests off the premises when a pickup truck roared up the driveway, narrowly missing a group of people.

That’s when Sveinson sprung into action. Her body got stuck in the truck's doorway as the driver reversed and tried to get away, dragging her with him. Her cousin, Peter Hanuschuk, managed to pull her from the vehicle just before the driver turned the truck. It’s a move the family believes prevented her from getting run over.

East St. Paul RCMP are still investigating incident but have made no arrests. They are calling on the public for any information about the driver who injured Sveinson and then sped off.

"Nobody has a clue who he is," the victim’s father, Cecil Sveinson, said Monday. The longtime Winnipeg police officer is proud of his daughter for trying to act responsibly and thankful she is alive.

Sandra doesn’t regret her decision to get involved, saying she never expected it to end with her own safety in peril.

The driver who fled is described as a white male, mid 20’s with an average build and light-coloured spiked hair. The vehicle was a dark-coloured small pickup truck. Anyone with information is asked to call RCMP at 204-667-6519 or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.

The Free Press will have much more on this story in Tuesday’s newspaper.

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